Thank you everyone for your lovely supportive and insightful posts to my previous post.
I am writing this fresh post so that its more visible.
Well the proverb should have "and remember plains have potholes."
We had a lovely day today despite all.
The one seriously good wheelchair taxi cancelled and the others weren't so suitable. So, as we had previously agreed, I meant just to do a visit to the home. I arived and told Liz and even through that PSP gaze I saw disappointment in her face, but she put a little smile on for me. My heart melted and I said, "Well, we could try a transfer into our car." She positively beamed with smiles.
I go t her home and we set too replying to emails from her friends and writing Christmas cards and planning the Christmas decorations. She sat and stroked her cat for a while too. We both had a tremendously good time.
Then it was time to go back and I hooked her wheelchair up to the AAT Stair Climber which walks her wheelchair down the front steps. I misjudged the edge of the paving and it tipped her out sideways. 1 meter further down it would have dumped her in the sage bushes, but no she had a small bump on the head and a graze from the hard paving. I quickly grabbed a couple of neighbours and we got her back into the house in moments. It was just a small graze. I called the nursing home to warn them and they said they must be sure that there was no more serious injury and we must go to A&E. I know from experience that an Ambulance would be a two hour wait, or more, for a minor injury and so it was back to the car and a drive to the next town for the A&E.
Four hours later the Dr popped a bit of glue on and asked the three basic head injury questions before discharging her. Treatment time was about five minutes.
The nice thing was that we sat together and held hands for four hours in A&E. Lot's of smiles and she delighted in looking through Hello magazine at all of the Royal Wedding stuff.
The poor soul was shattered when I got her back to the home after midnight.
But we are on the plain for all of this.
I hope they let me bring her home again on Friday.
And, yes I am a little nervous about what the home is going to say on Friday when I go in. Everyone is so safety conscious now, they are frightened of their own shadows at times I am sure.
Waiving warmly
Kevin
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Kevin I am glad you had a lovely day...apart from the tumble and the visit to A&E. Bless her she must have felt normal for all those hours. I can just imagine her sorting out the emails,cards,and decorations. It comes to something when even a trip to A&E makes her happy? I can imagine she was shattered after all that.
Well on Friday smile sweetly when you go to the Nursing Home. I hope they aren't silly with you. You did the right thing going to A&E and Liz saw a doctor, so really they should just accept you are not perfect after all? 😊
It has made my day/night to read your post. I am so glad you both had such a nice day. Maybe next time you take Liz out you should book the taxi's? It is Christmas you know? 😊
We're a bit tangled up in our own bow rope with regards Taxis. We live so close to the home. There is one taxi which has a proper rear ramp. However we live so close that if a better job comes up he cancels us. Never at short notice. I always tip heavily to help make it worth his while. Nearly all of the others have a short steep side loading ramp. Like the London cabs and it is very hard indeed to get Liz up them.
It will all com out in the wash though. It is getting increasingly difficult for me to make the transfers alone at home. So to some degree when I can no longer get Liz into the car I will no longer be able to manage her at home.
I'm glad that post made your day. When I see a 'made my day post." my heart lifts and the world becomes that much brighter.
What can I say Kevin ..... you have brought tears to my eyes. A minor injury bringing happiness .... able to hold hands with smiles ..... A&E has its upside at times. Take care. Jxx
I'll take happiness from wherever it comes. I was dreading the A&E. And I offered up a little prayer of thanks that it was not a Friday or Saturday night. They were completely overstretched with people on gurneys in the treatment corridors and that was a Wednesday evening!
Kevin what a heart warming story. So very typical of PSP. Apologies if my response to your post yesterday was so negative. Lots of love and hugs for you and Liz. Keep soldiering on and grab what fun you can xxxxxx
They seem to have imagined it to be much worse than it was . I can only imagine 'huge gashes and life threatening blows to the head'. As it was the Dr almost didn't bother with glue. Sighing, everyone seems so fearful in these modern times.
Today on the telephone they were relaxed and fine.
What a lovely story Kevin. You could have made it sound like a day of disasters. With a different response and attitude from you to all that went on it could have made Liz’s day miserable but it sounds as if you had a really great day which Liz obviously enjoyed....a bit of normality. When I was a child and something happened to upset us kids, my dad would always sing, Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative and don’t mess with Mr In-between. Sung originally by Bing Crosby I think and sung regularly by me and C throughout our marriage, it turned many a disaster into something bearable and often tears into laughter. Well done Kevin, you’ll never forget that day.
Just read your reply my mum always had a magic penny ,it worked every time you had to hold it on the bump then when it stopped hurting you were able to spend the penny it's a family tradition now .
Glad you had a good day. Taking her home must have been anxiety producing. Whenever I have to take Larry out of the house for an appointment I get knots in my stomach for weeks before the appointment wondering how it is going to go. Falls are what I fear the most.
Hope the home doesn’t give you too much grief about the head bump. Liz would probably gladly have another to get out again.
When I got her to the home at about midnight, the whole night team were assembled at the door to greet us. Rather daunting. They didn't say much, the lead shift nurse was rather pursed lipped! But they were very good with Liz.
I rang today (I cannot get in and her sister is visiting this afternoon) and they were very supportive. Though there was a brief silence on the other end of the phone when I added, "and I'll come and collect her to go home on Friday at 1400."
Chuckles.
It was such a small thing - If I were gardening, or in the old days sailing, I would have just swabbed it and kept going. However I am beginning to find that the younger folk come from a different planet from my lot. I am frequently surprised about their (?extreme) safety consciousness. As Monty Python might have said, "It did me no harm. After all I've only ever lost one eye. Oh, and an arm and then perhaps there was a leg. But, it didn't stop me." So perhaps they are correct.
But today is good and I'm hoping for another good one tomorrow.
Kevin so happy you had a lovely time with Liz, sorry about the accident, but thankful she was ok. You must be happy that you can bring Liz home for a while, sounded like she had a good day. Transferring is getting harder for us as well. Love Yvonne xxxx
Oh my glad what cannot have been a pleasant experience for Liz turned out OK in the end. Lovely Liz is able to come home still. Hope todays visit is less eventful on the accident front.
Kevin, you are so brave taking Liz home. I have never brought P back as I am afraid it would upset him too much to be reminded of home. He used to ask regularly `take me home` but I would always say he was `too poorly at the moment` which he appeared to accept.
Physically it is impossible now because we no longer have the ramp for his wheelchair etc. but I am haunted by the thought that maybe I could somehow bring him home one last time.....
I can get Liz home in a wheelchair and into the house. However I am my very limits doing transfers on my own, which have required two carers for almost a year.
Additionally Liz is less able to support herself in the wheelchair. She is just getting too floppy.
She has deteriorated quite quickly since being in care.
I really understand what you say about one last visit. I will be there too soon. However I am more determined to be realistic. Something I have not been so good at in the past.
Yesterday we just sat on the settee in each others arms watching catch up Coronation Street. Liz loves it. I don't watch TV at all. It was worth it to see the content smile on her face.
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